Trailer hitches are devices that attach to the chassis of a vehicle and are used for towing. The most common type of trailer hitch is the “bumper pull” trailer hitch, which is designed for towing from the rear of a vehicle. A typical bumper pull trailer hitch has two components. The first component is a rigid “receiver” of steel or other metal or rigid material that can be securely attached, usually with bolts, to the frame of the towing vehicle. The receiver has a receiver neck directed away from the rear of the vehicle. The second component is a ball mount, which is a rigid piece that has a tow ball mounted on one end and a shank at the other end that slides into and is secured within a receiver opening in the receiver neck. The towed object will have a tongue that fits over the tow ball, securing the towed object to the vehicle and allowing rotation between the vehicle and the towed object. There are several sizes of tow balls that can be mounted onto the ball mount. There are different diameters of tow balls used depending on what is being towed. A tow ball can be replaced or swapped if another size is needed to fit the tongue of the towed object. But, typically, the entire ball mount is switched out, which is easier than removing just the ball.
When the ball mount shank is within the receiver opening, the ball mount necessarily projects outward from the rear of the vehicle, so that the object to be towed can be attached to the ball and have a sufficient turn radius. When not in use, the projecting ball mount can present problems with parking, backing, and maneuvering around the rear of the vehicle. The ball mount can be removed when not in use, but can be awkward to store in the vehicle. There are storage devices available for storing a ball mount removed from the receiver opening. Some of these storage devices can be used to attach the ball mount to another area of the vehicle, such as in the bed of a truck. This often creates an obstruction in another area of the vehicle. Other storage devices operate by fitting into the receiver opening in the receiver neck and storing the ball mount sideways near the undercarriage of the vehicle. However, when the ball mount must actually be used in the receiver opening, the storage device that held the ball mount then has to be stored somewhere else. Other devices fit onto the arms or supports that hold the receiver to the vehicle. However, factory installed trailer receivers often have the receiver supports built-in or covered by the undercarriage components of the vehicle and are inaccessible. Storage devices designed to attach to these other sections of the trailer receiver are often not conducive to attachment around the accessible portion of the receiver neck, as there is usually insufficient surface area on the neck to support the storage devices.
There has yet to be a ball mount storage device that secures a ball mount unobtrusively on a vehicle, does not interfere with use of the ball mount, does not itself have to be stored when not used to secure the ball mount, does not obstruct other usable areas of the vehicle, and that can be attached and adequately secured to the receiver neck.